Scarred
by Veronzies
Summary: When the door knocks in the middle of a stormy night, Maddison believes that it's her brother, Alfred, returning from Syria. But what does she do when it is not him?


**Warning- themes of suicide, self harm, and death, proceed at your own risk.**

Maddison was sitting on the couch, watching the static on the TV screen. A finished bottle of sweet liquor is placed in her hands. She throws the bottle on the ground, making it shatter into many different sized pieces. She grabs a large piece of glass and slides it against her wrist. The blood beads up on her skin and drips to the floor.

Maddison was never noticed, never seen, and never cared for. Her own father forgot about her. Only two people knew she existed- her brother, Alfred, and her best friend and current boyfriend, Gilbert. Anyone else who knew her was deceased. Gilbert and she have been friends as long as she could remember, and Alfred was currently serving in Syria.

She sat there for a few minutes until she heard the doorbell ring.

"Coming" She shouted as she wiped the blood off her wrist. While putting on a thick bracelet to hide the new scars, she ran to the door to find a tall man, dressed in a crisp, military uniform. His face was stern, and slightly damp due to the rain outside.

"Are you the family of Alfred F. Jones?" The man asked in a deep voice.

"Umm, yes. May I ask who you are and why you are here?" She asked, trying to look innocent and oblivious, but deep down inside, she knew what this meant.

"I regret to inform you that he passed because of a suicide bomber" The man said sternly.

Maddison cupped her hands to her mouth, letting out a small and airy gasp. Her eyes started to sting and water. She took a gulp and choked back any sobs threatening to come out.

"We have his dog tag and what we could salvage of his uniform if you want it" The man said, handing her a silver dog tag.

"I'll take it" Maddison softly replies, reaching out her shaking hand to grab her brother's stuff. Looking at it, a few tears escape her eyes. "Thank you, mister-"

"Sargent McClenny" He said, finishing her sentence.

"Thank you, Sargent McClenny" Maddison replied with her eyes letting out more tears. Sargent McClenny gave her a salute and left. Maddison closed the door, slid down it, and let out the tears that were begging to be released.

She held the dog tag to her chest, sobbing over the loss of her brother, one of the two guys that knew she existed. After a few minutes of crying, she stood up and grabbed the red sweat shirt hanging on the coat rack. Alfred gave it to her before he left. She hugged it like a security blanket, trying to get a bit of his comforting scent. While hugging it, memories of her brother came to her mind…

* * *

" _Mommy! Alfred stole Kuma!" a little girl with blonde hair tied into pigtails complained._

" _Stop being a baby!" A little boy, looking about a year older replied, holding a little polar bear stuffed animal._

" _Aww, I like the bear, Alfred. Where did you get it?" a young albino asked Alfred_

" _I took it away from my sister Maddie" Alfred replied._

" _Maddie's here? Where?" asked the small albino._

" _Alfred! Give me back Kuma!" Maddison said, running up to Alfred until she saw the albino. "Hi Gilbert! What are you doing here?"_

" _I'm here to take the bear, and be the super villain!" Gilbert said as he grabbed the bear from Alfred and ran away._

" _Gilbert!" Maddison shouted, then sat down and cried. Alfred then ran up to Gilbert, took the bear, and pushed him to the ground._

" _Only I can take Kuma away from Maddie" Alfred said. Gilbert nodded in surprise. Gilbert then stood up and wiped away the small pieces of grass sticking to his clothes and skin. Alfred made his way to Maddison, holding the bear to her._

" _I am the super-hero that saved your bear from the evil Gilbert!" he said, giving the bear to Maddison._

" _Hey! I'm not evil!" Gilbert shouted, interrupting Alfred._

" _You just said that you were a super villain" Alfred replied to Gilbert. Gilbert crossed his arms and pouted._

" _Fank-you" Maddison said happily, ignoring Gilbert. Maddison went over to Gilbert and gave him a hug, noticing how sad he looked. Alfred, however, stood with his hand on his hips, looking like a superhero admiring his work. Soon, a young lady came outside._

" _Maddison? Alfred? Are you okay?" the woman asked. She had her medium-length brown hair tied into a ponytail. She also had light blue eyes that shined in the dimming light outside._

" _Were fine" Alfred replied sweetly_

" _Yea, Marianne. Alfred is ok" A man came out and said. He had ruffled, blonde hair with lime green eyes and black, bushy, eyebrows._

" _What about Maddison?" Marianne asked._

" _Who's Maddison?" asked the man, looking genuinely confused._

" _Arthur! Stop toying! You know who Maddison is!" Marianne scolded._

" _I can't say I know who Maddison is" Arthur replied._

" _Does your 4-year-old daughter ring a bell?" Marianne asked Author._

' _Oh yeah! Sorry sweetie" Arthur said, ruffling her hair. "Anyway, it's time to come in for dinner, I made it tonight!"_

 _Alfred and Maddison groaned. Their dad was probably the worst cook in the world._

" _It's okay guys, I made sure it was edible" Marianne said. "Now come on in, kiddos"_

 _Alfred and Maddison ran to their mother and father, ready to eat dinner._

* * *

 _Maddison was sitting in the hospital waiting room, tears flowing from her eyes. Her stuffed bear was clutched in her arms. Alfred was next to her, squeezing her hand for comfort. Soon a doctor walked in and told them to come into the room. In the hospital bed lay their dying mother._

" _My babies" she said weakly as Maddison and Alfred ran up to her. Their father would be there if it weren't for 5:30 traffic._

" _Mom, why did you call us?" Alfred asked, a single tear falling from his eye._

" _I'm afraid that my battle with breast cancer is almost over." Marianne said, eyes watery._

" _That's great! Isn't it?" Maddison asked, hoping that she was winning the battle._

" _No, I wish this was good news though" Marianne replied. Maddison then broke down and cried, knowing what she meant. "I want you guys to be strong for your father, for yourselves, and for me"_

 _Alfred and Maddison both bent down and gave her hugs and kisses. Once they stood up again, the line went straight as a beep sounded. After five seconds, Arthur burst through the door._

" _Marianne!" he shouted, but didn't get a reply from anyone in the room. He then glanced at the heart monitor, and broke down crying with his children, knowing that he wasn't able to say goodbye._

* * *

 _A single suitcase sat by the door. Alfred walked up to get the suitcase when Maddison tackled him with a hug. Gilbert was also there, patting Maddison on the back. Gilbert and Maddison have been dating for almost a month now._

" _Be sure to come back" Maddison told Alfred._

" _I'll only be fighting for a few years. I'll be fine, don't worry" Alfred said, hugging his sister back._

" _I still can't help but worry" Maddison said, crying._

" _I'll be the hero on the battlefield! When I come back, you will be in the presence of a true American hero!" He exclaimed. His sister's tears wouldn't stop flowing though._

" _I want you to take this to comfort you" He said softly, taking of the red sweat shirt he was wearing and giving it to her._

" _Thank-you" she said, hugging the sweat shirt._

" _Anytime. See ya in a few years" Alfred said, kissing her on the forehead. He then started to walk out the door. Maddison hugged Gilbert to calm her down._

" _Yea, a few years" she whispered into Gilbert's tear soaked chest._

* * *

Tired with the memories, Maddison grabbed her car keys and ran out the door. The humid and rainy atmosphere fogged up her glasses, temporarily blinding her. In surprise, she stepped back. Maddison ripped off her glasses and wiped the condensation of onto her hoodie. She got into her car, and started driving to Gilbert's house

She soon arrived to his house. Maddison rang his doorbell. After a few seconds of waiting, he answered the door, wearing an undershirt and a pair of boxers.

"I told you! I don't want any of your damn cookies!" Gilbert yelled, thinking it was his neighbor trying to sell him her Girl Scout cookies. He then blushed when he saw it was his girlfriend at the door. Gilbert proceeded to grab the coat by the door in an attempt to modestly cover himself. "Hey Maddie, what's up?"

'I just wanted to say goodbye" She said, then turned away swiftly.

"Whoa whoa whoa" Gilbert said, spinning her around. He gazed into her red and puffy eyes. "Where'ya going?"

"Somewhere better then here" she said, looking him in the eyes. He then grabbed her wrists. She winced in pain due to the fresh cuts there. Noticing her discomfort, he looked down at her wrists. He saw her cuts that happened to be fresh and bloody. Gilbert looked up at her in shock and pulled her inside, slamming the door behind them.

"Why would you do something like this" he asked in a soft, hurt, tone. He held up her wrists to where she could see them.

"No one cares about me, Alfred died, and my father doesn't even know I exist, heck, no one knows I exist. I want to be with my mom and my brother, in heaven" She said, slight venom in her voice.

"What about me? Why would you do this to me?" Gilbert asked her, his voice slightly raising.

"That's why I came to you to say goodbye" she replied, "I didn't want to stop here at first, but I figured that it would be cruel not to. I'm starting to regret the decision of coming here" Tears were streaming down her face like a river.

"Once more Maddison, why would you do this to me? Do you think I would be able to live with myself, knowing you killed yourself" He asked, his voice rising even more with every syllable. He backed her into the wall, waiting for an answer. Tears started to brim his eyes.

Maddison then broke down into a full on sob. "It hurts Gilbert. It hurts not having a family that loves you. The last person in my bloodline who actually cared for me died in Syria. I just want the pain to end. How can I try to live when I am nothing but dead inside? How Gilbert, How?"

Gilbert's hard stare softened into a loving one. "With me, loving you the whole way" he said. He pushed Maddison against the wall and crushed his lips onto hers. Her wide open eyes slowly closed to savor the moment. Out of breath, Gilbert pulled away and pushed their foreheads together.

"Why does it hurt so badly?" Maddison asked, still sobbing.

"It will stop soon enough, you just got to hang in there" he replied, gently pushing her head into the crook of his neck. She latched onto his shoulders and wept, soaking his undershirt. They rocked back and forth until Maddison's sobs subsided to a quiet wimper.

Gilbert then lifted her chin to where they were making eye contact. He then, without breaking eye contact, pulled up her wrist. He then looked down at her wrist and kissed every single one of her scars. After finishing, he repeated the process on the other one. Tears continued to trickle down her face as she was dragged to the kitchen. Gilbert pulled out the bandages out of the cabinet and carefully covered each scar.

"You know I love you so much" he mumbled, applying the last one.

"Yes, I'm so sorry Gilbert" Maddison sniffled.

"How about tomorrow we go over to your apartment and pack up your stuff? You are staying over here- and you have no say in the matter" Gilbert said, holding her shoulders.

"I think that sounds great" Maddison replied, forcing a smile.

"Good" Gilbert said, pecking her on the cheek. "Why don't we get some sleep?"

"Sleep sounds nice" Maddison replied, rubbing her eyes underneath her glasses. They then walked to the bedroom. Gilbert dug through his drawer and pulled out a t-shirt for her to wear. After a few minutes of getting ready, they shifted under the blankets. Maddison latched onto Gilbert like a sloth on a branch and fell asleep.

"Goodnight, my love" Gilbert whispered, kissing her forehead. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought about the black velvet box in his sock drawer, containing his future. At that moment, he knew he was right for trusting his gut and buying the ring.

As for Maddison, she was so happy being snuggled up to her lover, knowing that she was safe and not forgotten.

 **Thanks for reading! Much love from Veronzies 3**


End file.
